Selfless Orchestra 'Great Barrier'

Full Length Studio Album

A love letter to a natural wonder and a call to stand strong and protect what’s precious to us, Selfless Orchestra’s debut full- length album ‘Great Barrier’ meditates on our troubled relationship with the Great Barrier Reef that’s led to its current threat of extinction. A cinematic journey of hope, despair and empowerment - released worldwide on 23 October 2020 via Stock Records.

Selfless Orchestra are a post-rock ensemble based in Perth, Western Australia. Founding members Steven Alyian (Injured Ninja, Usurper of Modern Medicine, Doublethink Prism), Ray Grenfell (Last Quokka), Madeline Antoine, and Jerome Turle (The Weapon Is Sound) recruited symphony orchestra players alongside musicians from the punk and metal scenes, performing for the first time in 2018 and raising thousands of dollars for Reef protection and regeneration initiatives.

Wanting to capture the live performance in case they never got together as a group again, the ensemble headed into the studio shortly after to record a session with Rebecca Parker, recording the tracks in single takes with no editing. A year passed by, and after re-listening to the raw recordings and liking what they heard, some minimal overdubs were added and the album was mixed by Kieran Kendressy and mastered by Mikey Young.

It’s an emotional listen, weaving orchestral strings, huge distorted guitars, haunting flutes, experimental percussion, whale song and more, the recording features an array of musicians including members of the Perth Symphony Orchestra and legendary Perth metal act Karnivool.

The album’s epic opening opus ‘Time is a Flower’ expresses the beauty of the Reef before arriving at the drone and dirge of ‘False Bodies’, which delves into our ignorance about the impact we’ve had on the Reef’s natural formation. Singing the lament of the dying corals is the piano-led ballad ‘Bleached’, 'Beyond All Illusion’ screams in fury and desperation at senseless governments and resource industries; and despair is transformed into a glimmer of hope and resurrection in the uplifting final track ‘Eden is Lost’.

Steven Alyian said most of the songs on the album started as simple arrangements on classical guitar, which he began playing solo in meditation groups and more chilled performances.

“I ended up thinking these songs were perfect for the Selfless Orchestra band concept,” he explains. “When we first came together to write ‘Great Barrier’ these humble songs have now grown into massive compositions on electric guitar and backed by up to 13 musicians in a live show.”

Performances of ‘Great Barrier’ interweave sound and vision, evoking the feelings of renowned documentaries such as Koyaanisqatsi and Baraka. They aim to break the conventions of traditional music by performing at the same level as the audience - on the floor and in the round with 360 degrees of visual projections. It’s an immersive show designed to educate and empower audiences to become part of the movement to help protect Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

A uniting of artists, musicians, filmmakers and performers, ‘Great Barrier’ is an uncompromising and poetic statement about the future of a natural wonder.

It will be released digitally and on Limited Edition Vinyl via Stock Records on October 23.